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Greek Mythology

In Greek mythology, Tartarus is the darkest depths of the Underworld. It is where the souls of the evil are sent to for eternal torture, and it is where Zeus imprisoned the Titans. In mythology, Tartarus is a part of Gaia, near the regions of her stomach, while in other variations of the myths, Tartarus is also a primordial deity like Gaia. He made love to Gaia as well, having Gaia give birth to Typhon as a result.

Tartarus was envisaged as the opposite of the sky, an inverted-dome lying beneath the flat earth. Together the Ouranion-dome and Tartarean-pit enclosed the entire cosmos in an egg-shaped or spherical shell.

In the God of War Series

In God of War: Chains of Olympus, Kratos was defeated by Charon the ferryman, and subsequently thrown into the prisons of Tartarus. As he attempted to make his way out of the depths, Kratos fought his way through hordes of enemies, came across the prison of the Tartarus, and obtained the Gauntlet of Zeus, which aided his escape.

In order to craft a special weapon for the Spartan warrior, Hephaestus told Kratos to retrieve the Omphalos Stone. The stone, however, was said to dwell deep within the Pits of Tartarus, deep below Hephaestus' forge. In the caverns, on his way his to the doors, Kratos witnessed the freed souls of the Underworld in search of their redemption that is nowhere to be found. Then Kratos reaches the Gates of Tisiphone, which he first needs to solve the puzzle of the doors that will lead him to the Pits of Tartarus. He then battled his way through its darkest depths, until ultimately coming face-to-face with Cronos the mighty Titan. After a vicious battle, Kratos slew Cronos and retrieved the Omphalos Stone to take to Hephaestus and receive the Nemesis Whip.

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Trivia

In God of War III, Tartarus is limited by an infinite stone ceiling, but there is a big hole on a part of it. The sun light enters Tartarus through it, indicating it leads to the surface and is an exit to the mortal world. It is unknown why it exists or if it was made by someone, but it seems to be large enough for a god or even a "small" Titan, like Typhon, to go through and seems to be very old, too. It may have been used by the Gods to throw the Titans into Tartarus, for example. This hole can be seen by reading the book inside Tartarus, near Cronos location, and using the free camera to look up.

It's revealed in God of War III that Tartarus is actually the legendary battleground between the Gods and the Titans, though in God of War II, Atlas claims the great war forged the landscape of the mortal world, not the Underworld.